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Possible malpractice?

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K

Kitkat39

Guest
Malpractice? Lawyer high in court

What is the name of your state? California

I'll try to be as brief as possible. My adult son went to court yesterday; I was with him. My son had previously mentioned his misgivings about his lawyer's unproffessional behavior i.e. swearing at his clients, having loud abusive telephone conversations in the lobby of the court, things of that nature. I decided to go to this court date to see for myself. I was shocked at his behavior. He was obviously, to me, and several other people in the courthouse, very high on some type of upper - the man couldn't sit still, was all over the place, couldn't speak a full sentence, and was having th loud conversations on his cell phone - I heard him calling someone horrible names and saying he would better represent him if he would give him the f***ing 600 bucks he owed him. He would motion for my son to go outside so they could talk and then walk away from him back into the courthouse, just general chaotic craziness, making our heads spin. I wish I could better explain how he was behaving. Well, he had 3 other clients there that he was doing the same sort of thing to. It ended up we all fired him - we could not believe that in his state of mind he could perform with any competency whatsoever. We spoke with this attorney later last evening and he claimed that he had had surgery and was on medication, and that's what the problem was. Either way, wouldn't his ability to perform his duties be compromised? Whether it were a legal or non legal drug? Incidently, we spoke with a clerk at the court and she ran his name and found out he had a conviction in Feb. of this year for being under the influence and possesion of methamphetamines. Anyway, aside from filing a complaint with the california bar association, is there anything else we could, or should be doing? Is this malpractice? Is there any chance of getting some of the money we paid this guy back? We paid for his entire fee up front, and we don't have that kind of money to shell out again for a new attorney. Sorry this was so long, any help would be appreciated.
 
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Dandy Don

Senior Member
You have not given enough information to determine whether malpractice occurred. Exactly what duties did he perform on behalf of your son in court and what was the outcome? How much in fees did you pay and did you sign a fee agreement with him?

If he represented your son well then you might not get a fee refund. Too bad you didn't check his record before you hired him, but that is a lesson well learned now.

And yes, it is a good idea to file a complaint with the local bar association about this, although they probably will cover up for him by just making a small notation on his computer record/file.
 

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